Pretty Little Problems
by Trizinity
Summary: The girls face the usual problems, only this time...they might not escape. Hanna has a new man, Aria loves the man she never knew, and Spencer knows nothing anymore. What to do with these pretty little problems...
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Pretty Little Liars and I wasn't planning on taking it. I don't really know what to say in one of these things, so...let's get on with the story, shall we? :D

APOV

"Toby. Is going. To die!" I shouted as Hanna, Spencer and I sat at our usual table in the coffee house.

"Aria, I'm sure it was an accident. He didn't mean to hurt her," Spencer said, recognizing what she had just told me. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he did. But why? Why would he do that to her?"

"I don't know, but he should have been the one. Now two of our best friends have died! Two! I was shocked when Ali died, but now...I'm just furious! Things like this don't just happen. Rosewood seriously has some work cut out for it. I mean...did you see what that vandal did to the Rosewood welcome sign? They painted a new number onto the population thing. Whoever did that had to be at the dance. That means A was at the dance," Hanna stated, taking a sip of her frappaccino.

"We really need to go to the police about this. We can't do anything about this by ourselves,"Spencer said.

"But you heard what A said! If we tell anybody about this...we'll be the next numbers replaced on that sign. I don't know about you guys, but I personally think I'm too young to die! I mean...I haven't seen half of the things I wanted to yet! I wanted to go to Paris and see the London Bridge, I wanted to take a walk in the woods and see a dear pee-"

"Aria? You want to see a dear releave itself?" Spencer interupted me.

"Well, yeah! Have you ever seen a dear go to the bathroom?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at her.

"No, and I don't know why you would want to either. That's a bit awkward."

"I've just always wondered how they go to the bathroom. Do they lift their legs like male dogs? Do they squat like female dogs? Do they just stand there and not know they're going?"

"Aria...just stop while you're ahead sweety," Hannah said, getting out her compact mirror and reapplying her lipstick. "I have to go meet up with somebody I saw at the dance. Catch you guys later?" she questioned, giving us a glance.

"Yeah, sure," I said.

"Um, my place again?" Spencer asked.

"Sounds great!" Hanna gleefully spat.

"Doesn't matter to me!" I said, shrugging my shoulders and hopping off of my stool. I grabbed my frappe and my jacket off the back of my chair and headed for the door with Hanna, and Spencer following closely behind.

"How does six sound?" Spencer asked.

"Cool," I replied.

"See you then!"


	2. Chapter 2

HPOV

I got my cell phone out from my new Louis Vuitton hand bag and dialed the number on the small slip of paper I was handed at the dance.

"Hello?" the vioce asked.

"Hey, Lucas?" I questioned.

"Oh, hey Hanna!"

"I'll meet you in ten. Sorry I didn't call sooner, I got caught up at the coffee house with Aria and Spencer again."

"That's alright. Just as long as I get to see you again," he said. I could feel the smile spreading across his face on the other side of the phone.

"Uh huh," I stated, not knowing how exactly to respond to that. I hung up and started towards the library. I don't really know why we're meating at a library. I'm surprised I even know where it is! I've never been inside, but I'm sure it's just as boring as all the rooms I've been into that have books. Smelly, dark, and full of information I'm never going to use in my future. Lucas wanted me to meet him in the "quiet room", but since I have no idea where that is, he told me he'd meet me out front.

Three and a half blocks later, I approach an old brick building with a lion perched at either side of the huge stone stairs leading to a set of revolving doors. Who knew the library had my favorite type of door? Well...I guess you _do_ learn something different everyday! Or at least once a week, in my case.

"Hey there gorgeous!" he shouted from his perch on top of one of the lions.

"Um, hi," I said, moving a strand of hair from in front of my eye.

"Ready to study?" he asked.

"Could you say that a little louder? I don't think my cousin in _China_ heard you!"

"You have a cousin in China?" he questioned.

"Not the point. I don't want anybody to know that you're tutoring me. I just want higher grades to impress my-"

"Your mom?"

"My dad. Not my mother. Because heaven _forbid_ my mom _ever_ take pride in me! Let lightning strike me and my new Jimmy Choos if she does!" I yelled, starting up the stairs, but stopping half way to look back at him."Well, are you going to show me where this stupid silent room is or am I going to have to walk around aimlessly in this ugly building by myself?"

"Quiet," he said.

I put my hand to my mouth as I gasped. "What gives you the right to tell _me_ to be quiet?"

"No, that wasn't directed towards you, I was correcting you. The room isn't called the silent room, it's the quiet room," he stated, bouncing up the stone stairs past me.

"Right, my mistake."

"It's only a mistake if you never learn from it," he said.

"Um...kay?" I said with a questionable look on my face. I _really_ hope he's not going to correct me like this the whole time.

We walk closely through a very large room with round tables everywhere. Some with nerdy people reading thick books with no title on the front cover. I'm no book person, trust me, but usually when books have no title on the front, it means they're really old. Like...ancient. Almost as ancient as a pair of Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses. Talk about last years fashion gag! Ew, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth. I should really stop mentioning fashion from the past, knowing what it does to me. We came to a door that almost reminded me of one of those castle draw bridges except for the fact that it doesn't open like one would have. And there's no mote surounding us with alligators or snapping turtles in it. Nope... just a whole bunch of smelly old books that were around when Abraham Lincoln was still learning how to walk. Yuck...I just thought of a president without being forced to. How disturbing.

"Here we are! Fifty-nine steps forward, one-eighty turn to the left, and one step forward once again," he said, opening the door of the so called "quiet room".

"You counted how many steps it is to the door of the room?" I questioned with a giggle.

"You never know, I could go blind any day! It's always a good thing to stay one step ahead of everyone else."

Oh. My. God. Does he know about the Jenna Thing? No...he couldn't! He's not the kind of person who would stalk a couple of girls because of a little secret he's in on. Hell, I don't even think he's the type to be in on any girls' secrets.

"Right. Of course. Wouldn't want _that_ to happen," I stated, looking him square in the face to see if his expression would tell me anything. But, it didn't change. His face still told me that he's totally only tutoring me because he still thinks he has the slightest chance with me. I wouldn't date that boy if Hell freezed over or pigs actually started to fly! He has no chance, but I'm not a girl who would tell him that face to face. Especially if that face were my tutor.

"Okay, so let's start with Algebra. It's mainly the toughest subject."

"This can't take too long. I'm meeting some people at six. Could we hurry up on this one?" I asked.

"Sure...if you want to fail your next pop quiz," he said with a mischievous smile.

"Right," I sighed, plopping down on a black leather chair, prepared to be bored to death by math. It's times like these I like to catch up on my beauty sleep. But this time I _have_ to pay attention. My next report card depends on it.


	3. Chapter 3

EPOV

I was on my way home from the coffee house when Maya came running out of her house at me.

"Emily! I think someone has been in my room!" she shouted.

"What? Who would go into your room?" I asked.

"I don't know, but I found a piece of paper on my bed. It was this note made by magazine cut out letters and it said something about you and I was so afraid that you were hurt! Where have you been?"

"Shh! Don't be so loud! I'm supposed to be in the hospital right now. I only got a few cuts from a shattered mirror. Toby is the one that got hurt. In fact, he didn't make it," I stated, trying to fight tears. Even though he tried to kill me, I liked him...a lot. I told him that I knew his secret. He must have thought I knew some other secret, because knowing about him taking the blame for us isn't the type of secret you'd try to murder somebody for knowing. At least I know he's not going to try anything else on me any time soon.

"Oh my god. Why didn't you stay there?" she questioned.

"I hate doctors. And needles _really_ freak me out," I explained.

We both laughed for a minute.

"Well you should really go back. They're just trying to help you get better, that's all."

"I'll heal on my own. I just really don't think I could go back there. Anyway, what did the note say?"

"Here, I brought it. Let me get it out of my pocket real quick," she said, reaching into her right side pocket and pulling out a folded piece of construction paper. She handed it to me. I slowly unfolded it to see tons of letters that were cut out of magazines mangled together to make words. This is what it said...

You better watch your little swimmer...she's getting fiesty. Fiestyness can only lead to one thing...pain.

~A

"Oh my god...A got to you too?" I whispered, more to myself than to Maya.

"Who _is_ this A person?" she asked.

"Um...I don't know. That's what we're trying to figure out."

"And by _we're_, you mean...?"

"Aria, Spencer, Hanna, and I. And now you apparently," I said.

"I take it this isn't a good thing," she stated, putting the piece of paper back into her pocket.

"No, not really. Listen, I have to go. But, maybe we could hang out tomorrow?" I gave her a questionable look.

"Sure! That'd be great! How's noon sound?"

"Um, okay," I answered.

"Alright. Bye," she said, walking back to her front door.

"See you later," I said back, waving as I walked up the stairs of the house.

I was sure not to make any noise so mom wouldn't yell at me for sneaking out of that smelly prison. Being at the hospital is worse than being in my own home. The smell was making me so nausious, I actually felt a lot better when I came into fresh air. There's no place like home, right?

I krept into the living room and sat down on the couch as soon as I was positive nobody was downstairs. I got out my phone and texted Spencer first, then Hanna and Aria to tell them about the note Maya had gotten. I looked at the clock. It was only five o' clock, so I decided that I had time to relax before it was time to head over to Spencer's. I kicked my legs up onto the sofa and closed my eyes. I could at least _try_ to get some sleep, not that it was even worth the effort now.


	4. Chapter 4

APOV

I went home for a bit of alone time before I headed over to Spencer's for our little meeting thing. I opened the door to see Ella and a very familiar face sitting on the couch, drinking something out of mugs.

"Hey sweety! This is Maradith, you remember her, don't you?" Ella asked as I threw my bag onto a chair at the kitchen table. Oh my god, why can't she leave us alone?

"More than you know," I stated with my fake cover up smile. I use it when I say something I shouldn't have, which clearly just happened.

"Um, okay then. Do you want some tea?" mom questioned.

"Nope, I'm good. Uh, why are you here?" I asked, giving Maradith my I'm Only Asking You This Because I Want You To Leave So Take A Hint look.

"Oh, well your mom invited me for dinner," she replied.

"Why'd you do that?" I asked, noticing that I sounded a little pushy. "I mean...I thought tonight was family night."

"That's the thing, see..." Ella started.

"Oh god...please don't tell me-"

"Maradith is your aunt," she finished.

"You mean like...your _sister_?" I questioned.

"Yeah, she's my sister," Maradith said, nudging Ella's arm in an oddly playful way.

"Well then...but I saw...and then they...but then he didn't...and now I'm..._why_?" I rambled.

"I didn't tell you because we had a huge fight when we were young and I said that if I had kids, I would never tell them about her because I pretty much hated her at the time," mom explained.

"Oh my god. What did you fight about?"

"She stole my boyfriend."

"But that's all in the past," she assured me. Right, the past. Now let me tell you a little something about the past...it has it's ways of coming back. And I can't believe _Maradith_ did. Of all the people in this stupid world, Maradith has to be the aunt I never knew I had.

"The past is closer than you think," I warned my mom before trudging up the stairs. Well..._that_ went well. I plopped down on my bed and looked at my phone. I got a text from Emily. I opened it and replied after reading. I thought she was dead! But I also think I saw her at the coffee house when we were there. Usually people should stay in the hospital after something like that happens.


	5. Chapter 5

SPOV

I got home and made sure everything was clean and stuff before the gang came over. They came in the door at the same time...even Emily.

"Hey guys! Emily? How did you know we were meeting here and why aren't you dead? I mean...I didn't _want_ you to be dead, it's just...shouldn't you be?" What a _great_ way to greet my undead friend, right?

"Well, to tell you the truth, I ran away from that god aweful place they call the hospital." We all shot her a comfused look. "You know I hate needles! And it smells yucky, like...old people, ya know? And woman can only live so many days on pureed carrots and steak which, by the way, is disgusting," she said, putting her hair up in a messy pony tail. "So when I escaped, I was thirsty for a frappe at the coffee house. That's where I saw you guys. I didn't say hi because you were talking about me being dead, and I kinda wanted to hear what you had to say about it. Sorry about that. But I heard you guys were gonna meet here at six, so I decided I'd come too to tell you that I didn't die and stuff. So here I am, explaining my apearance to you," she finished.

"Okay, on that note...Spence? Do you have any Pringles?" Aria asked.

"Um, yeah. But, why do you want Pringles?" I questioned.

"I didn't have breakfast, I couldn't squeeze in lunch, and now it's six and I'm starving. If you don't have Pringles, I guess Hanna's purse will have to suffice," she replied with a smirk, looking down at Hanna's hand bag.

"No way, Aria! Get your own Louis Vuitton to eat! This one's mine, so _I_ get to eat it!" Hanna stated with a grin.

"Okay, okay! Nobody will have to eat anybody's purse! I have enough food here to feed an army," I said, walking to the kitchen. I opened the cabinets to see a box of fruit gummies and some baking soda.

"Yeah, an army of ants," Emily stated. I glared at her for a minute. "I'm kidding, calm down."

"These shelves were full when I was home this morning. Where did the food go?"

"There's a note on the fridge form your dad. They went camping and figured you didn't want to go since Melissa asked you and you said you hate camping," Hanna said, taking the note off the door of the refridgerator and handing it to me.

"But you were the one who used to love going camping," Aria pointed out, grabbing the gummies and pulling out a pack.

"Mellissa never asked me if I wanted to go. I didn't even know they were going somewhere." I went for the fridge to see if there was any more food in there. I opened it to find a bowl of watermelon that they must have forgotten, a cup of yogurt, and a slice of cheese. How in the world will I be able to survive on those?

"Ooo! Yogurt!" Hanna yelled, diving for the small container.

Emily glanced at the watermelon, then at me, and back at the watermelon. "It's okay, Spence. I won't eat your food."

"No, it's fine. I'll just...go to the store...again," I said, handing her the bowl of fruit.

"Are you sure? I feel bad eating this now."

"No, yeah. I'm sure. Go ahead, I'll have this piece of cheese."

"So..."

"So..."

"So..."

"So..." We all said, one right after the other.

"My dad's cheating on my mom," Aria started.

"What?" Emily questioned.

"With who?" I asked.

"My mom's sister, Meradith."

"I didn't know your mom had a sister," I said.

"Neither did I. She kept it from me until today when I got back from the coffee house."

"Oh my God, does she know?" Hanna asked.

"No."

"Are you going to tell her?"

"Are you crazy? That's why I never knew my aunt in the first place! My mom said she swore to herself that she wouldn't tell her child, if she had one, about her sister," she said.

"So her sister cheated on her boyfriend before?" Emily questioned.

"Yeah."

"And Meradith is cheating on Byron?" I asked her to make sure I knew what she was talking about.

"Mmhmm."

I looked at her with concern. "That's so messed up."

"Well I can't do anything about it because if I do, I'll ruin their sisterly relationship."

"Sisterly relationship? Wow...who died and made _you_ sophisticated?" Emily asked Aria, ending in a crowd of laughter from us all.

Later on, they all went home after we made plans to first, go shopping for some food, and second, take a road trip tomorrow afternoon. That seemed best fitting for all of us. Emily has plans to meet somebody for lunch, Aria has to deal with family things, and Hanna's going on another one of her secret meetings with someone we may or may not know. So we figured we would meet up at Aria's house and ride in Hanna's car to do a little thing I like to call...shopping!


End file.
